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A Misspent Saturday Night

I think there is something wrong with me. I never give up. I am like the head on the ground in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who yells at the knight who has beheaded him, “Come back and fight like a man!”

Saturday night I discovered my coral beaded choker had my favorite gold necklace in a stranglehold. I was thrilled to find the misplaced piece of jewelry and horrified at how their fine chains had knotted together.

At around 8:00 PM, I began picking the delicate balls of gold apart, believing it would only take a few minutes. The plan was to watch a movie on Pay-Per-View. As the minutes turned into hours, my husband watched Papillon while I continued to struggle. By the way, that soundtrack is the most repetitive and irritating ever!

By 10:45, I was still untangling the gold mess when my husband announced that he would finish watching Saturday Night Live up in our bedroom.

At 12:10, I finally yelled, “Screw you, stupid chains! I will have you melted down instead. I wasted my whole Saturday night because of you two!” My index finger and thumb were raw and I wondered if there was any benefit from absorbing gold through the skin. “It’s probably toxic,” I thought.

Sunday morning, I woke with a pang remembering my misspent Saturday night. After walking into the kitchen, I glared at the fighting chains and sat down for one last try. In less than 15 minutes, they slid apart. “Woohoo!” The gold one was broken in a couple of places. I could have cut it, saving some time. Oh well.

How much time did that take me? Close to four and a half hours! That is ridiculous! And yet I saved one of the chains, so I guess it was worth it. But who else would do that? I never give up even when I should.

Persistence and determination are great qualities to have if you are a writer like me, but not so much in other occupations.

It occurred to me that I would make a terrible emergency room doctor. If a patient flat-lined, it might take days before I would “call it” and check for the time of death.

Forget about extreme fishing like Deadliest Catch since I would be the one saying, “The hurricane is really not that bad. 5 more minutes; just 5 more minutes…”

No one would ever see me again if I became a deep-sea treasure hunter. I would believe the amazing cache would be found the next time I dive – right after lunch, tomorrow, or the next day…

“Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent”

After writing this, I ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Look at what my fortune said. Can you believe it?What the heck does it mean?

As a writer, I will continue to forge “ahead,” never give up, and pray that I am not drop-kicked!

That is true and that glimmer of hope keeps us moving forward!
I often think life would be so much easier if we were clairvoyant, but that would mean we would see the nasty stuff ahead too and I would rather not know…..
Thanks Heather!

Sometimes I envy your Husband! You were trying to untangle gold chain & your husband was able to watch TV peacefully!!? At my place, if gold chains fail to untangle under a minute, then at the stroke of a minute it becomes my assignment. If my fingers fails to to do the job in next couple of minutes I resort to pliers & similar tools. The end usually not a pleasant one as it involves a visit to a jeweler and to get a free repair, end up buying something new!

Hahaha! That’s part of my problem. I would never ask Danny to take over. I considered taking it to a jeweler, but I kept thinking…5 more minutes….just 5 more minutes…….just 5 more……
Gee, I would go to the jeweler if it meant buying something new. I might even throw all my chains together in hopes of them tangling!
Thanks Yatin! You crack me up… 🙂

Think about it…they are “omnipotent”; that means “all powerful”. They took you away from everything and ran your life for a bit! They were, indeed, all powerful.
I also had those traits to an extensive amount – until the stroke. I don’t recommend that solution. Mine was OCD – so, when the stroke reset my brain – voila! Very much reduced, mostly to normal. The only thing I still see it in is playing my new Wizard’s game. I lose time there! (or is it thyme? hmm. – no, still have thyme, must be time). Seriously, sometimes, I think, you have to make that extreme effort on the very small things (importance-wise) and force yourself (I know it is a force) to walk away. I am not sure that four-and-a-half hours to try and save 2 gold chains is really a waste. Now, I would do it spread over several movies (next time, though, use a needle – it will help).
Scott

Here’s how I self-destructed on an RWA Regional contest entry last year.
I’d already entered The Tara.

Next up? The MOLLY (from your neck of the woods). Just eleven additional pages. Already written. And, a synopsis. Even for a Synopsophobic (Moi!), two weeks seemed a life-time to write a good one. So, I took two weeks to write it.

I came home from Starbucks at 6:00 p.m. with the completed synopsis, had only had to add the additional pages to The TARA entry, complete the entry form and pay.

That’s when I decided it would be really impressive if I created section headers, so I could separate the Synopsis and Manuscript within the same .rtf file. That exercise became my gold chains. I kept bungling the format, could not get the headers to show properly. Would it make a difference to the judges? Um. No. The score-sheet showed no boxes for “tidy headers.”

It was 11:26 Mountain time and 12:26 a.m. Central when I got those headers to work! Woot! Quick copy and pasted, and…

I’d miscalculated. The stop point for my “hook” placed me four pages over the maximum. I had twenty minutes cut from the middle, to complete the form, to pay HODRW the entry fee. I made it at 11:59 Mountain time. When I reread my submission the next day, I found syntax errors (thanks to cuts), sentences to nowhere (thanks to cuts). Somehow, I managed to pass the semi-final round. I’m sure it was the headers.

I would not be on any damn boat and that chain would have been cut in 2 seconds.. No patience and the music from SNF would have driven me wild and I owuld have been glued to the set hahahah
HUGGGGGGGGGGGG

You have more patience than I do because I had a necklace with a knot, left it and continue to wear it. I usually steer clear of things that are not in my talent pool, like plumbing, major landscaping, using power tools, etc. Have a Great Day:)

Oh So get you on this one..if i add up all the hours i have spent doing all these works like opening the knotts,rope,chains it will make atleast a year or so…i just dont give up and if someone forces me to give it up then i keep thinking about it in bed till next day i am fighting with it again…
hilarious post Susie 🙂

I would totally spend 4 1/2 hours untangling those necklaces! I’m sure your determination has paid off in myriad ways. It’s all in how you look at it ~ now you’ve got your pretty necklace back and that pesky gold chain will never choke it again.

I applaud your persistence, but I would have spent 15 minutes trying to untangle, then 4 hours and 15 minutes whining about being the architect of this disaster, followed with hating myself forever for lousing up my necklaces. That’s why only the jewelry I ever wear is a watch with a leather strap. I can handle that.

Persistence is great! Unfortunately I maintain mine only up until my frustration kicks in. I ended up hulking out on two of my interlocked necklaces just a few weeks ago. Only one made it out alive. That is the worst!

I’d still be sitting there trying to untangle the necklaces, too. It’s a control thing. Gold chains will not get the better of me. I will conquer!

Other things however, I give up way too easily. Like decorating gingerbread people at Christmastime. I’ll spend a few long agonizing minutes making a few perfectly decorated couples, but then I’ll resort to just adding some eyes and a smile and calling it a day. Who cares what they look like, right?

I’m glad you were able to salvage one chain for your efforts. And if I’m ever in need of resuscitating, I’m calling you!

Hahaha! I am laughing Patricia! I used to push the gills of my guppies in and out to keep them alive when they were dying! 🙂 It is weird what I “let go” and what I decide to spend time on… Thanks Patricia! I hope you never need my perseverance!

Seriously! I wonder if I could. I think it is so deeply ingrained to take up a challenge that I would still try…. Maybe if the now broken gold chain fetches a good price, I will jump at the chance to melt the next one down! Thanks Julie!

I would have given up on the Gordian Knot when I first saw it, sat down and wrote something about it. Anyway, covert relations between jewelry is a little known phenomena. You’re supposed to close the jewelry box and they’ll untangle when they’re done.

That coral necklace IS so beautiful!
This made me grin.
I’m afraid I’m like the opposite. I don’t have enough determination to finish a project, I’ll likely give up and start reading blog posts or something. 🙂 …unless it involves a story. I always have to finish the stories I’m writing, or reading.

That’s good! I don’t always finish books. The one I am reading is an autobiography and I’m tiring of hearing “memememe Myselfmyselfmysef, IIIIII. I think I will read the Hunger Games instead!
Thanks Ellie!

I’m the same way. Once I start something, I become pretty obsessed with finishing it. Even if it takes forever. Which is why the book I’m currently writing will be done once I’m around 80 years old. But it will be done, dammit!

Hi,
I think that’s great that you never gave up, those delicate chains on some necklaces easily get tangled, you don’t realize until you go to get one out of your jewelry box and then the horror hits.
I now wrap mine separately in half a tissue before I put them back in the box, no more tangles. 🙂

This could not have come at a better time! Do you know why I am responding so late? Because I needed to create table cards for Tech’s bar mitzvah. I started at 7 am and I didn’t stop until 5 pm! I couldn’t figure out the problem. I went to my son’s friend’s house and – presto – as it turned out, I didn’t have any problem! The document actually worked. Whaaat? I don’t know what the problem was. But yes… I should have stopped a lot earlier. Or called for help about 6 hours earlier. So I’m like you. Persistent to the point of pointless. Or omnipotence. 😉

I link that. Persistent to the point of omnipotent! I can’t wait until that really kicks in! I could use that power in my tennis matches!
I sometimes think that Google Chrome is the monster inside my computer…. I am glad that you got them finished! Check it off the list!
Thanks Renee!

We are a lot alike. I hate to give up. Give in, too. But, Susie… I do believe I read the word favorite in the second paragraph. So, maybe there was a little love involved in that untangling project. Your husband is a man of infinite wisdom, to watch SNL in another room, while you continued in your Gideon’s Knot Quest kind of thing.

I love that you’re an optimist.. I think I could have guessed that from your happy and upbeat style of writing and awesome sense of humor! My uncle taught me to use a straight sewing pin to separate chains.. You wheedle it in and wiggle to loosen the knot… For next time, so you can watch that movie:)

That is such great advice! I will keep that in mind if it ever happens again. Someone else suggested wrapping them in tissue to keep them from tangling, so hopefully it will be the LAST time! 🙂
Thanks so much Barbara!

LOLOL Susie! You and I have something in common! My husband says I’m like our Grandogger who is a Jack Russell Terrier. When I focus on something I am so persistent and determined it’s not even funny. Don’t tell me I can’t do it! LOL! And I will not give up until I’ve mastered the situation. Is there no hope Susie? 🙂

Wow, talk about perseverance! Glad you saved one of the necklaces. Depends on how tired I am tackling something challenging before I call it a loss. There are certain things I start and just can’t stop at, like pulling weeds or messing around with some new technique in iMovie. It’s strange how far we can push ourselves at times! Another fun post, Susie!

Thanks Lynn! It does seem weird how I am wired for certain projects and others I have no problem blowing off! Sometimes I get like that on the computer too. I look up and can’t believe how much time has flown by!

I’m with you… I could never make the ‘call’ in the ER. Hurricane? It’s just a little wind, ya sissy! Hahahaha!

I wouldn’t be here today if I had given up when it seemed there was nothing left… no hope… no way out. But… Mama didn’t raise a quitter!

I know that sometimes I can take the ‘persistence and determination’ to a bit of an extreme, but I won’t quit until I have accomplished what I set out for or have given it my best… sometimes even then…

Want to hear my tangled necklace ‘tale’? I did the same as you one time… spent hours trying to untangle two necklaces that I’d thrown in a drawer and forgotten. I came across them during ‘spring cleaning’ a while back and realized that one of the necklaces… a gift a friend had brought back from Mexico… I had never worn. A fine silver chain with beads of turquoise and a beautiful turquoise ‘tear-drop’. I finally got the necklaces untangled… Tina had gone to bed hours before.

Anyway, I wore the necklace the next day… got several compliments on it. That evening though, Tina says… “Roni… what is that on your neck?” and she didn’t mean the necklace.

That ‘silver’ chain wasn’t… silver! The da** thing had left this greenish-grey ring around my neck! I thought I’d never get it scrubbed off!

Grrrr……….

So, is there a moral to the story here? Sure there is. Will I remember it the next time I get a bit too persistent about something? Probably not.

Dang! It left a ring-around-your-collar! Bummer.. Hahaha! I know that metal will do that sometimes! Too funny!
You do sound persistent which can be a great quality. I think it is better to err on that side than on the quitting side!
Thanks Veronica!

That was hilarious. I’m sorry about your frustration but that was too funny. That’s happened to me lots of time with untangling computer wires, and also chains mixed in with rings. I couldn’t let the chains beat me. 🙂 I LOVE Papillon, great movie.

I never did get to “see” the movie!
Computer wires can be the worst. I can’t wait until everything is cordless including the vacuum cleaner! Maybe I should get one of those little robot vacuums….
In the meantime, I have learned my lesson and will store my chains more carefully!
Thanks Guat!